The third day He rose again from the dead
As a young child, I memorized the Apostle’s Creed as we said it at church every Sunday.
The Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen.
I prayed it weekly, and I meant what I said.
However, I’ve always wondered about the dates. How could it be considered three days if Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday. Isn’t that two days at most?
When I began to research this, I happened to look at the calendar on my wall and there was an asterisk beside “First Day of Hanukkah” in December. At the bottom it read: “Holidays start at sundown the day before they are listed.”
This reminded me of my trip to Israel in 2013. Although Sabbath was on Saturday, it actually started at sunset the day before. So at restaurant buffets, they had all the food prepared for Friday evening and Saturday (until sundown) before sunset on Friday.
Counting days in this manner helped clear up my confusion.
Day 1: Crucifixion — starts at sundown on Thursday and ends at sundown on Friday.
Day 2: Sabbath — starts at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.
Day 3: Resurrection — starts at sundown on Saturday and ends at sundown on Sunday.
Accordingly, if Jesus was buried on Friday before sundown, and rose from the tomb after sunrise on Sunday morning, it would be three days.
And I believe they are the most wonderful three days on the Christian calendar.